Dane's jaws ached with pressure. Desperately, he tried to fight the nightmare image from his mind.
"Acknowledge me, slave! I am your master!"
Dane's senses reeled. He was panting now. "I—I—"
"Say it!"
"I—am—your slave...."
Thin, cruel lips peeled back from stained teeth in a grimace of sadistic triumph. The soundless, soulless laughter rang forth louder than ever.
Dane sobbed aloud.
As if his reaction were a signal, the mocking face began to fade, back into the eddying radiance from whence it came. Where it had hung, a new shape rose.
Inanimate, this one; yet clean-cut and graceful as any living thing. Slim, silvery, needle-sharp, it poised like a gigantic lance flung skyward from its squat, buttressed base.
Dane's raw nerves calmed a fraction. The dream-pain ebbed away. Fascinated, he studied the shining shaft.